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My one and only act of page turning was the most frightening moment ever on a stage. At every state dinner at the White House, there is a programed recital of about 20-30 minutes after the dinner by a well known artist. During my tenure there Beverly Sills was asked to sing one of those programs. She had performed with an orchestra that I played with and we had done an encore together (voice and harp). When she arrived for the dinner, she recognized me. Just as I finished my job that evening, the head usher came downstairs to where I was putting the harp away and asked if I would turn pages for Charles Wadsworth for the recital. As in RIGHT NOW! I mumbled of course and went upstairs to the East Room. I literally was shaking but managed. At the end, Mr. Wadsworth realized how scared I had been and apologized for putting me on the spot. To my surprise, a week later I received a beautiful signed picture of the President and Mrs. Ford with Beverly Sills and Charles Wadsworth in front of the piano. And in the background, you can see my small very pale face. What a night!

Much as I would like to believe that the quote at the head of the post is real - I find I cannot. The 'Klutz Competition' and the 'Alfred Hitchcock Chair' are what finally spoiled it for me. Nice try anyway.

_________________________
'Always remember: the higher we fly the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly."" - Nietzsche

Originally posted by Stanza: The perils of paper! Hugh, you forgot paper cuts with blood all over the keys and ink poisoning! Great stuff.... [/b]

Oh my goodness! Your post brought back memories of when i was practicing as a young student in one of the basement rooms at Curtis - i was swiping a page turn really fast, then felt a stab of pain on my finger before seeing the page gush with blood - apparently, i had sliced my finger on one of the book's STAPLES!!Maybe i should rename my video "The Perils of Paper, Staples, Sharp pointy pencils, and other hazards of music made from deforestation"!!

Originally posted by musiclady: I am regularly asked to turn pages for concerts and services, and yes, there is an art to it. I've trained a few students in the art too, and written some notes on how to turn pages, do's and don'ts.

Meri [/b]

I am sure I have recounted this before on this forum, but one of the most annoying page-turners I ever saw was a young man, evidently untrained the the fine art of page-turning. Sitting in the appropriate place to the left of the pianist, he used his right hand to turn the page and he turned it from the bottom of the page rather than from the top, thus putting his arm in the sight line of the pianist and his elbow in her face every time he "graciously" turned the page for her.

Given that he played the piano himself, a little thought and/or common sense would not have been inappropriate.

There are no worse sins in the elite Page Turning Community than to turn two pages at once. Such acts could get you imprisoned in the mid to late 1800s. What do you think happened between Schumann and his wife?

Originally posted by Debussy20: There are no worse sins in the elite Page Turning Community than to turn two pages at once. Such acts could get you imprisoned in the mid to late 1800s. What do you think happened between Schumann and his wife?

Matt [/b]

No doubt. I've posted the story before, but a fellow once did that to me when I was accompanying a choir in performance. The problem was that the wrong page started exactly like the proper page, so neither of us was aware of the problem for around 3 measures, when the choir went one way and I went another way. It got a little bit ugly at that point.

This past spring, as I was accompanying a choir during a concert, I set an extra copy of the first page of the song I was playing next to the regular music, so I wouldn't have an awkward page turn. I did not have a page turner. We started the song and everything was going well. When I got to page 3, the extra copy fell to the ground.

The auditorium we were in was not very large, and the piano and bench were very close to the seats. One of the concert-goers, trying to help, tried to put the first page back up so I could see it. I quickly turned and smiled, and continued to play on. The page fell to the ground a second time. The same person tried to help again, this time placing the extra page on top of the music I was playing. I quickly grabbed the extra sheet and moved it to the side, but it fell to the floor again.

At this point, the choir director, who was standing next to the piano, leaned back and told the helpful person that it was OK to leave the page on the floor.

Originally posted by bkkmd: Well, there are plenty of threads about pianist and piano related movies. How about one about page turner? One that come to mind of course has to be what else but "The Page Turner"? Anyone else saw this movie? My friend said that only the French could have come up with something like this! [/b]

Is this the same film as "Food of Love" which, according to the blurb on the dvd box is based on "The Page Turner" by David Leavitt?

I wonder what any native Americans who might have seen the film think of the accents of the Brit. actors in it....convincing or not?